Mitternacht
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: At the  stroke of twelve, on a warm summer's eve, two lives will be changed forever. Two strangers, on the brink of death, will be forced to make a decision that will alter the very course of reality. This, is that story. IchigoxSoifon. Fluff angst etc.
1. Prologue: Abyss

She could not breathe.

Alright, she _could _breathe, but she could _not _stop pacing!

A myriad of strange, confusing emotions ran through her. First, there was disbelief. Disbelief that she had actually kissed, yes, _kissed _him in front of all those people, which of course included his father, and the entirety of the Gotei Thirteen, not to mention a host of enemy arrancar and _humans_, deliberately broadcasting her feelings for the entire world to see! The memory filled her with a burning exhileration, and burning shame.

Shamefaced, she rounded the next corner, muttering a halfhearted apology she brusquely shouldered her way past a stoic Urahara Kisuke, who made no effort to accept his apologies as she briskly continued on her way and unwillingly allowed the enigmatic scientist to fall into step with her.

"Say," The humble owner of Urahara Shouten attempted to begin a conversationg with his ever jovial smile, but one steely glare from her frozen silver eyes proved more than suitable enough to silence the meddlesome interloper. And then she was past him, gritting her teeth as she swept the sliding door clear off its hinges, tossing it quite some distance before it meekly skidded to a halt at a pair of bare feet.

A slim femine figure barred her bath.

"Move." She barked a single word, but her gaze turned pleading as golden hazel eyes hardened against the command.

_"Please."_

Shihoin Yoruichi made no effort to waylay the shorter woman further, stepping aside and alowing her to sweep past in a blur of white, black and red. The room registered as little more than a blur as she stalked past a now bewildered Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia, both of whom quickly scurried out of her path as she neared the bench where they had been sharing a heated discussion-

"T-Taichou-" The red haired fuku-taichou never had the chance to finish his sentence as an upturned chair swept itself off the ground and unceremoniously swept him off his precarious perch. Without so much as a glance, she pressed on, growing colder as snippets of conversation snaked through the thin walls of the shop. Despite her best efforts, years of honed training kicked in and she found herself listening.

-too many off them."

-didn't leave him?"

-Baka yarou! The fuck were you thinking?"

"I didn't have a choice damnit!" The words came through loud and clear as she approached her destination. Her hand froze on the handle, but it was too late, the door opened, and she saw the look that they wore. That they all wore.

"Where is he?" her voice was barely a whisper as her piercing gaze swept over the seven figures that occupied the room. "Why... why isn't he with you?"Everyone in the room suddenly found the floor fascinating, and refused to look at her. The realization, seized her viciously

Now, there was something else.

Stealing her joy away, was the fear.

Oh, yes, there was fear.

So much fear that she now found herself in _tears _as Hirako Shinji, the first to return, bore no news of _him _and his battle against the enemy horde that threatened the peaceful little town she had come to call home over the past year. Without a thought as to the rhyme or reason why, she found her legs moving again, carrying her away, running, fleeing from the startled cries of Hachigen Ushoda and Love Aikawa, both of whom were swiftly silenced by the flat voice and stiff, unyielding body that was Kensei Mugurama.

"Leave her."

Instead of gratitude for the vizard's efforts, the woman, she felt only anger. Blinding, searing, all consuming rage that threatened to swallow her mind and consume her. The vizard were against Aizen, weren't they? Then why weren't they there, fighting alongside her partner ? Why were t_hey _here at the hideout, twidling their thumbs, while he..._he..._

_No..._

Gasping, choking, and on the verge of breaking down into humiliating sobs, she slammed the guest room door behind her and wedged the handle shut with a nearby chair. Her arms trembled from the effort that it took to release her grip from the door, then her legs as she staggered towards the far wall and willed her unresponsive body into a sitting position. Only then, only there, with her head between her knees, did she slump down against the wooden frame and allow her body to tremble, her eyes to sting, and her lip to quiver as her emotions began to run their course.

Hell itself was a cool breeze compared to the intensity of the flame that blazed within the soul of this shinigami.

The fear did not burn at her sanity like the shyness, nor did it threaten to consume her entirely like the desire might, for if that were so, she could have handled it, controlled it, and herself as well. No, the fear was not so quickly and easily restrained as its fellows. It crept up upon her like a cold chill, worming its way into her skin filling, her body, and finally her soul, with whispers of second guessing, self-doubt, and wicked loathing.

_He will be alright,_ she told herself this for what seemed like the millionth time. _He'll return to me, he promised. He swore. He will... he will... he will.._over and over she repeated this thought in her mind chanting it as if it were a mantra, as if it would guarantee his safety and well-being.

It was not to be.

A wicked flare of blackish red light suddenly light lit the horizon now, streaking up into the sky. Struggling to stand, the battered captain made no effort to stop her haori from slipping off her shoulders. As the white garment crumpled into a heap behind her, she felt something twist within her chest as the pillar roared across what had once been East Karakura, consuming the bustling metroplis within a wall of flames. She couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away and, as if to mock her, the spire of otherwordly light only shot further into the heavens, with no signs of slowing.

"No..._NOOOOO!"_

Moments later, his reaitsu vanished. The thin wall she had thrown up inside her mind, the paper thin barrier that she had erected to wall herself of from the grief crumbled like so much dust. With a soundless scream, she slumped to her knees placing her head in both hands in a futile effort to drown out her own screams. Uncaring, she did not so much as flinch when the door blew open and a well polished laugh whispered through the windows, followed moments later by the all encompassing spiritual pressure that slammed her to the earth and pinned her there.

The dull ache spread from her stomach, to her chest and then to her eyes, as she struggled to raise her gaze. This one last spark of defiance was duly rewarded, her body crumpled beneath her as a booted heel slammed into her lower back, producing a sickening pop as she cried out.

"Oh?" The smooth, perfectly inflected voice burned her ears like acid. "My apologies, captain. It is still rather difficult for me to control my power."

"Sosuke...Aizen." She spat the name as if it were a curse.

A pair of cold, soulless, hollow eyes were there to greet her as the tip of a katana forced her chin upward. The smile was as warm and gentle as it had been the day that he had left, and just as beguiling. The only difference was the touch of arrogance that lingered within his voice.

"Why captain Soi fon...you seem upset. Whatever is the matter?"

"Where...is...he?" It was difficult to speak now. "Where is...Kurosaki...Ichigo?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo?" The smile widened just a fraction as another shadow loomed up behind him. As if noticing her sudden gasp, he turned, his gaze shifting to his unknown, and as of yet still silent companion. "To whom are you referring? If you mean the man who stands before you then-

For the second time that day, Soi fon felt her heart stop beating. And stilly, the blade raised itself up, inexorably drawing closer to her skull with every passing second. She did not care. She could only stare at the ashen, chalk white individual who so coldly returned her frantic gaze...

With nothing.

_"No...Oh kami, no..._

And the sword plunged through flesh.

**Flashback next chapter hope you all liked this!**


	2. Dream of Death I

**In the last moments before death, it is said that your life flashes before your very eyes. Perhaps this is true. When death comes for you, when you know that there is nothing more you can do to stay that inexorable entity that claims all things living, it is only natural to reflect, to dwell upon a happier time, a simpler time, when the thoughts of perishing upon the battlefield were far and forlorn from your mind...**

**And so...Soi fon falls back upon her memories...**

_(One year earlier)_

Soi fon could not breathe. But this was not from death, nor was it lack of oxygen and asphyxiation that frustrated her so. As she stared down the endless tunnel of white light, a boy, wrapped in the form fitting black garments of a shihakusho approached, shining like the sun itself. He smiled.

"Ohayo, Soifon-san!"

At his words, the blinding light dimmed to a faint glow, leaving the two of them suspended in the blackness. Still, the radiance clung to the child's body, sweeping through his short, strawberry blond hair like a soft breeze would, causing the unruly locks to shade his doe brown eyes.

"Hello!" He chirped again, to which Soi fon, almost against her wishes, found herself smiling back. Refusing to speak with the boy had long since proved futile. He'd just continue on without her consent, chattering incessantly, much like a child would be expected to do. So she humored him.

"You again. I would have thought that you'd have grown tired of boring old me by now."

"Nope!" The boy shook his head vigorously. "Not at all, Soifon-san! You're a really interesting person!"

"Is that so?" With a smirk, she leaned forward to ruffle his hair, something she knew annoyed the child, yet something she took pleasure in all the same. Sure enough, the boy blinked, then his delighted smile crinkled into a sullen frown as she splayed her fingers and tousled his orange locks.

"Uwah! Soifon-san, you're messing up my hair again!"

"Am I?" With an amused chortle she continued her efforts to rile him. "Tell me your name and I _might _stop."

She'd experienced this dream many times before, ever since the the crisis that the Gotei Thirteen referred to as the 'incident' in which half their captains, including Shihoin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke, had mysteriously vanished into exile. That night, the night she'd cried herself to sleep, was the first time she had met the boy. At the time she had struck out at him, screamed at whatever nightmare this was, to leave her be.

He'd smiled then, bowed, and with a 'See you tomorrow!' vanished into thin air. And indeed, he had resurfaced the next night. And the next, and the next, and the next. As such, Soi fon had long since given up determining its source. In fact, this was the three hundred and sixty fourth time she'd met the smiling boy, whom she still knew so little about, other than he did not seem to age, that, and he refused to tell her his name.

Still, she hadn't given up.

It was in these dreams, these brief moments in which she could escape from the bitter confines of reality, that Shaolin Fon could be truly herself again. The vulnerable little girl who just wanted someone to talk to, yet was too afraid to let that someone in, for fear of yet another vicious betrayal. Ironic, that she, a grown woman, a captain, befriended a figment of her own imagination, this child that always appeared in her dreams.

She had to know his name.

"O-Ow!" The boy yelped loudly, his pain drawing Soi fon away from her pleasant reverie. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you!_ Just stop pulling my hair!"_

"There." With a look of smug satisfaction, Soi fon rudely deposited the boy on his rear. "That wasn't very difficult, now was it?"

"Meanie." He folded his arms and sulked for another moment, before giving an angry huff and bolting to his feet. The boy dusted himself off and shot Soifon an accusatory glare. "That wasn't very nice, Soifon-san. I would have told you my name if you just asked me nicely!"

_"I did ask nicely."_ Soi fon glowered to herself. _"Three hundred and sixty three times, to be exact." _But she remained silent all the same and allowed her erstwhile companion to collect himself. At length, his scowl softened, fading into a thin line, an expression that she found herself unable to read. Still, he fidgeted for a moment, as if he suddenly found his sandals absolutely fascinating. He was obviously stalling, but why?

"Do you really wanna know?"

Soi fon would be kept from the answer, her answer, no longer.

"If you won't tell me then I'll force it." Her heel snapped out towards the boy's chin, screaming forward at an incredibly velocity that the human eye could not comprehend. The boy just blinked and moved his left hand. An almost imperceptible motion, until his hand closed around her heel.

_"Nani?"_

"Soi fon." Something was different about him now. It was the way he spoke, the way he regarded her with narrowed eyes and a wide smile, an expression that would look dangerous on a grown man. Coming from a child, his visage gave the boy the impression that he was deep in thought.

At length, he spoke again.

"You already know the answer to that question, don't you?"

When her silence greeted him, the boy's expression turned solemn. "No, that's right, I guess." His shoulders seemed to slump for a moment, and with a deep sigh, he released his grip on her heel."Look." Before her very eyes the child seemed to stretch, elongate, his features streamlining as he shot upward in height, the black shihakusho growing with its owners lanky frame. Now, he stood a good head taller than her, and slowed.

Unbidden her body inched back half a step.

"You haven't met me yet, Soi fon." His voice had changed as well, not quite that of a boy's, nor was it that of a man's. "Then again, I haven't met you yet either actually." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But you will meet me, soon enough, because I won't be _here _anymore."

"W-What?"

"This." He made a wide gesture, indicating the tunnel, his voice reverberating off the walls. "You won't see me in your dreams, not anymore. I've existed outisde of this place for a long, long time. Now, the time has come for you to come back to reality, and abandon your little fantasy world."

"Y-Your name." Soi fon could barely choke the words out as the tunnel began to collapes around her, the blackness erupting into white static between them, walling them off from one another. Suddenly furious and frantic, she beat at the wall that blocked her. "I asked you your _name!"_

"Ichigo." The youth whispered over the roar of countless voices, his own cracking as his body cracked down the middle, the spiderweb fractures crisscrossing about his face. "My name is," abruptly he shattered into a thousand shards of luminescent golden light. "...Ichigo Kurosaki."

_**zzzzzz**_

That night, and every night for the remainder of the week, Soi fon woke at the stroke of midnight. It was as he had said, the boy no longer appeared in her waking dreams nor her sleeping ones. Instead, horrible images of war, death, and destruction haunted her sleep.

So it was now, staring at a failed mission report in her hand, that Soi fon closed said hand into a fist, crumpling the ruined piece of parchment, and then shredding that slim piece of paper into absolute nothingness. Slowly, deliberately, she raised her gaze to meet that of her lieutenant's.

"O-mae-da..." Soifon's voice was a silken purr as she beckoned towards a stout shinigami with her index finger. "Would you please come here?"

Her recently instated right hand man made a choking sound in the back of his throat. Whenever captain Soifon used the word 'please' and 'come here' in the same sentence, one of her subordinates often met with an 'unfortunate accident'. Now it would seem that, thanks to his own ineptitude, he was about to experience such an accident.

"Er...t-taichou, I can explain-

_"Now."_

MarechiyoYoshiayamenosuke Nikkōtarōemon Ōmaeda, the lieutenant of squad two, whose lengthy name Soi fon had not even bothered to remember until now, saw the spark in the eyes of his captain, heard the growl in her voice, and wisely took three steps back. This move of cowardice likely saved his life, as the open palm crashed into his stomach. The impact shattered the room's paper thin wall and launched him...

Straight into Kuchiki Byakuya.

Her fuku-taichou made a noise that fell somewhere between a cough and a wheeze, crashing through the guardrail and into now vacant hallway, which the Kuchiki noble had occupied only moments before. Facedown in the grass, he made no effort to rise, for which Soi fon seethed further.

"You insolent-

"Captain Soi fon." The crisp, clear tone of Byakuya Kuchiki which would make most women swoon, or at least pause, produced absolutely no effect on the seething Captain of the Stealth Corps as she shouldered past the captain as he now shunpoed back into view. "I would appreciate it if-

"I did not launch my subbordinates toward your head?" Soi fon felt the briefest surge of satisfaction as a flicker of suprise broke through Byakuya's normally dispassionate visage, visible only in the widening of his slate gray eyes and the tightening of his lips, but present still.

She fought her own urge to smile.

_'The great Byakuya Kuchiki isn't so high and mighty now, is he?'_

"Not quite, captain Soi fon."

_'?'_

Once more in control, Byakuya leveled an icy glare in the direction of the still prone Omaeda, moaning as he attempted to extricate his head from the soil, unaware that the two taichou had already begun their own debate. "I was about to suggest that you not launch high velocity _projectiles _towards a fellow captain." The faintest glimmer of a smile pulled at Byakuya's lips when he turned to face her upon finishing his sentence:

"It isn't safe for one's health, after all."

Distracted by the sudden change of pace, Soi fon _blinked, _her steely gaze widening immeasurably before rexamining the head of the Kuchiki household with renewed scrutiny_. _Did Kuchiki Byakuya just crack a joke? The head of Kuchiki Manor was known for his proud status and firm belief in the law. For him to break character in this manner and hint at Omaeda's uselessness was actually, in its own way, rather charming...

"Kuchiki-

"Oh?" A smooth voice interjected abruptly, breaking the tension between the two. "Is your fuku-taichou sleeping on the job again? That's quite a bothersome problem, isn't it, captain Soi fon?"

_'Damnit Gin!'_

For a second, just a fraction of a second, Soi fon felt a cold flash of fear. One which she quickly suppressed as the speaker slid into view, his slitted eyes, perpetual smile, and the light lavender purple hair under which they hid, stirring a familair mix of disdain and unease within her.

"Captain Ichimaru." Her reply, a tad frosty, caused Ichimaru to tilt his head in a perplexed manner. Slowly, he glanced from Soi fon, to Byakuya, and back again, his pleasant grin widening exponentially."Hmmm? Am I interrupting something, my fellow captains'?"

"Actually-

"I was just leaving." Byakuya's sharp rebuttal stung a bit. He did not so much as bat an eyelash, turning to the side when Soi fon made a move to grab for his arm, allowing her to slip past. He had already vanished in a soft whisper of shunpo, leaving her arm in the grip of another. Smoldering, Soi fon glared at Ichimaru's hand with malicious intent before straightening up and bringing her blazing gaze to bear upon the fox-faced captain.

"What do you want?"

"Nope, not me, I don't want nothing." Impossible as it may have seemed, Ichimaru's already impossibly wide smile grew yet again as he released his hold on Soi fon's wrist. "The Sou-taichou wants to see ya though, so _that _sounds like somethin' important." Soifon frowned, her thoughts of Ichimaru already fading away as she muttered a profanity and dissapeared with a quick burst of shunpo. Confusion coupled with irrtation, clouded her thoughts.

What on earth did Head captain Yamamoto want with _her?_

Unbeknownst to her, Ichimaru watched Soi fon vanish into the distance with a sly smile.

_"Bye bye, Soifon-taichou."_

_**Author's note: Can someone please point me to a good english to german translation site please? I need to know the words for death, dissapear, rebirth and the like**_

_**Next time: Adios Taichou**_


	3. Dream of Death II

**Dream of Death II**

The living quarters of the head captain were surprisingly...plain. A simple room devoid of all decoration, save for a thin white cot at the far end of the room, and a desk, upon which various papers and quills with which to sign them, rested. The head captain himself had his back to her, and appeared to be gazing out across the balcony observing the setting sun. Knowing better than to approach him from behind, Soifon paused.

"Head captain." She bowed courteously, from several feet away. "I understand that you wished to see me."

"Captain Soifon." Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai's response came not in the form of slow and deliberate action, as was his custom, but the photograph he now held in a withered hand spoke volumes for them. It was profile shot of a young man, possibly sixteen years old, with...

Orange hair.

Brown eyes.

And possibly the most dazzling smile she had ever seen.

"This boy has been at the center of several..._disturbances _in the real world as of late." Yamamoto continued stonily."In fact, it has been reported that he recently destroyed the hollow known as grand fisher." Here he paused, allowing the severity of his words to sink in. "As you may have guessed, we have already dispatched several seated shinigami to question him. They have not returned, which is why you have been summoned to my personal quarters, captain Soifon. _You _are to observe him, you are to apprehend him at any and all costs, do I make myself clear?"

Soifon hadn't bothered to concern herself with anything of what had been said. Despite this, she nodded once.

"When do I leave?"

"At first light."

**zzzz**

Soifon stared after the youth, just as she had at the picture, her lips parting in a small O as he turned and presented her with a perfect profile shot of himself. Tall, well-built. Doe brown eyes, shaded by a messy mop of spikey orange hair. When he smiled everything faded to stunning gold curtains about him, dizzy just to observe. This, was her target. The one that she, a captain, had been assigned to observe and capture.

_"You...?"_

The youth stiffened, shuddered a bit, but made no other indication of having heard the shinigami. Soifon took this into consideration and slowly padded after him, her footsteps registering as little more than a cool breeze. Again, the spikey haired youth began to fidget restlessly, whilst his companions remained blissfully unaware of the stalker within their midst. Soifon felt a small surge of elation at the realization.

The boy appeared to have some sort of spiritual awareness then. Descending to ground level the captain strategically placed herself directly to the right of Ichigo, who again, shivered, despite the oppresively humid temperature of mid April. Was he aware of her prescence?

Despite herself, despite knowing what would happen if she spoke Soi fon couldn't hold back the word that now slipped through her full lips.

_"Ichigo."_

With a startled shout that could wake the dead, Ichigo jerked his body to the left, stumbled a few steps as his right foot a nearby piece of trash, while his left caught the curb, before the opposing momentum sent him unwittingly lurching into the path of an oncoming car. Soi fon's smile evaporated at once with the dismayed cries each of the boys' gave. Slamming on the brakes, the driver fishtailed and continued to careen toward the injured youth. It took less than a second for Soifon to asses the situation and its consequences, but even as she preapred to intervene...

Ichigo was back on his feet, albeit with seconds to spare, tensing himself, as if for a mighty leap.

A moment before impact, she heard his voice.

"Shit."

Then there was only the grinding and tearing of metal as the sedan's hood crumpled beneath the weight of his palms, which _dragged _across the polished surface, just as his shoulder slammed into the windshield and splintered it with an audible crack. An instant later Ichigo had cleared the vehicle and came to a skidding halt, almost an entire block away from where he had originally started. Soifon let out a small sigh of relief.

Having caught his breath, the youth performed a sudden about face, eyes wide and darting about. Caught flat footed, the shinigami could only blankly stare back, her steel grey eyes going wide with surprise as the boy's narrowed in a strange mixture of disbelief and confusion. For a moment, just a split second, shelost control of the reaitsu currents keeping her in place upon her precarious perch. With a small, exasperated hiss, she lost her footing and tumbled into the nearest cover available, leaving the boy to blink and rub at his eyes as he saw little more than a blur.

"What...what was that?"

"Oi, Ichigo!" Keigo called from across the block. "We're going to be late!"

"I know damnit! I'm coming!"

Only after Ichigo and his friends had crossed the street and entered into the school did Soi fon painfully extricate herself from the slender branches of the Sakura tree. After spitting out a mouthful of leaves, and removing the twigs from her hair, the stealthy captain nearly did a double take. Was that a smile just now?

_**zzz**_

Here, the memory did blur. It swam out of focus for a handful of seconds, only to coalesce into another picture moments later. When sight ansound finally deinged to return, Soifon found herself caught up in mid-memory...

The adjuchas didn't even flinch, its face curling up into a disdainful sneer as Ichigo's unarmed left hand rammed into its solar plexus. Startled, Soifon glanced around, struggling to recall how she had gone from sitting in the tree across the street, to lying on the ground, suffocating in a pool of her own blood. The sun had long since set now, the glitter of stars mingling with that faint illumination of the street lights.

Dazed, she attempted to raize her gaze as complacency faded around her, replaced by the boy wearing the black shihakusho. Black Shihakusho? Was that why she was wearing all white? Why she felt absolutely no trace of shinigami powers from within her soul. Was that why this boy was...

She'd given her powers to this boy, and in doing so, saved his life? When had she done _that? Why _had she done such a thing for that matter?

_"Is that all?"_

Ichigo doubled over and _screamed _as the now scissor like hand of Diez made a clean cut through the muscle of his left shoulder. Now, his left arm dropped uselesslly at his his side. With a keening laugh, Diez flung himself upon Ichigo, his left and right arms now shaped like massive twin hammers, thick clubs that The hollow's wraith-like figure began to blur, swinging in and out of focus with every blow...

**zzzz**

He blinked and heard a quiet giggling. He got up immediately and looked around. Furrowing his slim thin brows he tried to focus where the noise was. There was no more noise to be detected, and with a precursory glance aroun, Ichigo gave up with a soft sigh and rubbed at his temples.

"I'm imagining things now, great." Ichigo muttered bitterly and heard a giggle come out again, but it had a hint of a buzz along with it this time.

"Oh you're not hearing things!" A happy voice buzzed and Ichigo widened his eyes and immediately thrust his hand out in front of him to make a fighting stance. The blur of golden light darted past his outstretched hand, giggling incessantly.

"Who's there, I demand you show yourself right now!" Ichigo barked aggressively and heard the fluttering and buzzing of flapping wings moving rapidly.

"Right here!" A voice called out from behind and Ichigo turned around quickly only to see nothing there. He growled with irritation and huffed and heard the voice chuckle loudly at his irritation. "Maybe this is why you can't defeat that weak little hollow. You're just not fast enough and you say you're the fastest man alive?."

"This isn't funny, I want you to show me who you are!" Ichigo was well more over cranky and at the last end of his wits trying to find out who the little girl was talking to him right now.

"I've been trying to show you who I am, but you obviously just can't keep up can you?" The slight girly and airy buzz lifted through the forest again, it was calm and peaceful, but extremely rude and irritating to Ichigo.

"Who are you?" Ichigo yelled again and the hornet tsked and glared at him from behind,extremely disappointment, baka-berry, he still _hadn't_ figured out she was behind him .

'_No wonder why he can't defeat that stupid thing, he can't even sense things properly when they're right behind him, god.' _

"Why should I tell you? I've been trying to tell you for quite some time now; I am not obligated to tell you anymore, you have to figure yourself in this setting which is your mind." The bee crossed her arms together and Ichigo didn't say anything and the bee zipped out of her spot and landed right in front of him. Ichigo widened his eyes as he saw the hornet rest right in front of him.

She was like a small fairy/bee. With smooth brown hair tied up into pig tails. Her shirt showed off her midriff and was made black and yellow and so were her pants. With her left arm being completely encased with a stinger shaped metal. With three separated edges put together, it had black markings on it. She grinned at him, her smile full of complete and total trust, yet there was arrogance to be found here as well.

_Suzemebachi. _The name literally _popped _into his head, a small starburst of gold that Soifon watched from afar, as if in slow motion. When next she did blink,t he little sprite beamed brightly, pecking him lightly on the cheek was she flew past. A flash of irritation filled Soifon at this.

But...why? Why should she feel angry?

"Great! Now, tell that hollow to-

**zzzz**

"Fuck off."

The lizardlike hollow blinked, just as Ichigo's severed right arm exploded into a rainbow of saffron gold. Seconds later, a piercing scream filled the street, causing several passerby to glance up as an unseen battle raged around them. Soifon heard none of it, she was too focused on...on...

Ichigo spat out a bloody glob and _smiled_, pearly white teeth gleeming in the darkness. Now, Diez let out something akin to a gasp, staggering back incredulously as a black crest, eerily alike that of a hornet blossomed across its chest. _"What? But how? That arm...that arm was broken!"_

Ichigo chuckled, a low, hoarse sound.

Dieze twitched angrily.

_"Kid...are you fuckin' mocking me?"_

Ichigo did not answer, he was too busy swaying too and fro like a drunkard who'd had one too many. It was only as Diez's boot snapped forward, and as Ichigo swept around it, that she recognized the form of these movements. What had looked like formless evasion had _substance_, their was method to this madness.

"Hakuda."

Soi fon blinked, her eyes growing wide as the boy held up his right hand. Plated armor wrapped itself about the entirety of his wrist and forearm, the golden stripes crisscrossing across the black material. The middle digit was encased in what could only be described as a golden stinger, one that now dribbled black ichor from its lethal tip. The sight of this strange weapon triggered a small explosion of ache inside Soifon's chest.

_Her zanpaktou._

"Sting all enemies to death." Ichigo hissed, clacking the claws together.

_Suzemebachi._

_"Tch."_ The adjuchas snorted, scoffing as its the flesh of its wound slithered shut once again, leaving no trace of injury whatsoever. But for the hornet's crest, he was unmarked. _"Whatever. You got lucky that time, kid."_

"So what about next time?" Ichigo, his confidence restored, was still grinning, and now, he beckoned toward the ghoul with his middle finger. "Are you gonna call that one a lucky break, too? Or what about the one after that? If I keep getting hits like that in, then you're done for."

"There won't _be _a next time." the hollow spit venemously.

"If you meant that, then you'd have your guard up."

The street exploded.

Ichigo was little more than a blur of black and orange, colliding with the electric blue blur that was the adjuchas. Even with her superior combat ability, Soifon could hardly register their movements. The two spit and snarled at one another, neither willing to break their hold upon the other.

"The crest!" Soifon shrieked, as Ichigo scored a glancing blow against the beast's brow, only for the adjuchas to power bast his block and seize the soul reaper in a jarring full nelson. "The crest, you fool! Stab the crest!" Ichigo glanced toward her, and arched his entire body forward.

...Nothing."

_"Eh?"_

"You're...nothing! Do you hear me? NOTHING!"

_"Nani?"_ Bemused and smirking ,Diez held fast to the flailing Soul of finishing his adversary off, the adjuchas foolishly watched Ichigo veritably tense all of his muscles for a monumental surge. _"If I'm nothing, then why am I about kill you, shinigami?"_

"You're not."

Before the adjuchas could comment on how such a trick would never work, the would-be reaper slammed himself forward,ramming his skull against the hollow's in the most vicious of headbutts any soul reaper could produce. With a surprised gurgle, the adjuchas spit blood from both its mouth and nostrils, staggered for the briefest of moments. Ichigo's gore soaked hand swept across its face in a feint, then a knee to the groin proved to be the finisher, and the adjuchas was down, dropped to a knee, swearing profusely as it craddled its battered cranium in its good hand.

"It's over."

With agonizing slowness, the adjuchas raised its gaze to look up. The last sight it beheld was that of pure, brilliant gold, then Suzemebachi struck home, burying itself to the tip in the bony chitin of the hollow's skull. For a moment, there was silence. Then the crest flared a sickly red.

_And the adjuchas screamed._

Ichigo, his back already turned to the dissolving ghoul, paid no heed to its keening wails. Instead, he now stalked toward Soifon, his expression unreadable, his eyes, little more than frozen ice, displaying no concern as he glared down at the dying shinigami.

What he said next would be his very first words to her.

"Who...are you?"

**Author's Note: Thanks for the translation**** and the sites everyone! I've got some good ideas together as you can see, and I hope that all of you will continue to review this humble creation that is my story. Will Soifon die? Is she truly revisiting the past on her deathbed, or could this all be... just a dream?**


	4. Tutelage I

**Oh, this is gold gold, GOLD! I can't believe I didn't think of this before! I mean Ichigo and Soi fon are almost exactly alike! Personality wise, they're both hella pridefuly stubborn, incredibly powerful and agile, AND they catch onto the tactics of their opponent very easily! PERFECT!**

**Tutelage I**

Kurosaki Ichigo was getting his ass handed to him.

His pride as male wouldn't be able to take it, even if it was just training; he was not going to lose this fight. Tightening his grip on Suzemebachi, he lunged forward, swinging downwards before changing the direction of his strike into an upward arc that would knock her off balance, maybe even disarm her. He could see the surprise in her eyes, he was already thinking of the words he would say. He could see her twisting? Ichigo didn't even have a chance to see the swing that sent him back towards the rock that he was well acquainted with over the past few days.

"Get up." She purred, approaching him with the a confident swagger in her hips, one he both hated and admired so very much. "Get up now, Kurosaki, or so help me, I am going to drag you up by your-

Ichigo flung himself forward, dissolving into a black blur as he took the third step. He hadn't gone more than three feet when a sharp blow to the head stopped him cold, throwing the shinigami back onto his rear. Glaring up at the offender, Ichigo rubbed at his sore skull and swore virulently.

"FUCK! Ever heard of pulling your punches!"

His attacker answered with another chop to the neck.

"Less talk, more focus,_ Kurosaki!"_

Kurosaki raised his right arm, wincing as the bone went numb from the blow. Then he had her by the wrist, and his heel found its place in her solar plexus, casting his attacker off, into the ground. She lay there for a moment, twisting about to recover her footing, using the board of wood beneath her feet as a springboard. Ichigo hissed in surprise, snapping a fist outward, shattering the plank upon contact with his knuckles.

A soft chuckle was the only warning he received. As the splinters from the broken board sprayed wildly about, she leapt forward, her lips curling into a feral smile as she absorbed the look of utter shock he wore. Sliding one foot back, and the other forward, she thrust one open hand out.

_"SOUKATSUI!" _She laughed, sneering as doe brown eyes went wide with surprise. The first shot slammed into the school field, creating a small cloud of dust, for its intention had never been anything other than to give birth to the smokescreen. Something hard crashed into his face, and Ichigo tasted blood in his mouth for the second time that day. He staggered back, rubbing at what had to be a broken nose and a split lip.

Behind him, she thrust one finger forward, the single digit of her pointer finger jutting out prominently from her closed fist. He turned, glancing over his shoulder at first, then coming about completely as the current crackled loudly, announcing its presence to its prey. Too close. Much too-

_"Byakurai."_

_"Okasen!"_

Ichigo bellowed back a second later, a wide arc of yellow flame jetting from his palm to meet the azure blast head on. The twin blasts careened into one another, creating green as they warred for dominance with only mere centimeters to spare. Ichigo snarled, and the wide swath of golden fire surged forward, tearing through the lightning bolt, to strike its disbelieving target head on. When the smoke finally cleared, her uniform was a bit ragged, but other than the burn mark she bore on her shoulder where she'd lost her right sleeve, Soi fon was completely unharmed, if not utterly embarrassed for being knocked on her ass. Tsking, she took the hand Ichigo now offered and allowed herself to be hoisted to her feet.

"Gods." Soifon grinned, tousling Ichigo's hair. "You catch on quick, for a human."

Ichigo chuckled.

"Well, I _am _a soul reaper."

Kurosaki Ichigo had not been quite so quick to warm up to the idea, not at first. But what he'd witnessed that night was irrefutable, as was the katana that materialized at his side whenever he was ejected from his body, the proccess of which he believed Soi fon could be a great deal more gentle about. It was all too real to dismiss as some wild hallucination, a theory that most sane individuals would cling oh so desperately to. The concept of hollows, and the shinigami who slew them, was not even remotely logical. Perhaps it was due to the fact that this realm was neither.

After the first week of endless sparring, he'd found Soi fon to be quite _likable_. Once he'd gotten past that ever so arrogant 'I'm better than you can ever hope to be' exterior and actually landed a blow on her, she'd sulked, as anyone would, but not a day later, she'd ratcheted up his training, insisting that he learn how to improve on his combinations _after _he landed the first blow, instead of standing there like an overconfident buffoon.

It was slow, tedious work, but it gave Ichigo something to look forward to, and even appreciate, when the school day was done. Such was another stipulation. Soi fon had insisted that Ichigo's studies come first, the sole exception being if there was a hollow attack during class.

Ah, yes, school.

The day after the incident, Soi fon, somehow managing to pass herself off as a _transfer student,_ had joined Ichigo's class. That was where all his troubles had truly begun, if being gang pressed into hunting hollows by a death god counted as trouble. And with the latter have holed herself up in his _closet_, Ichigo didn't have much say in the matter.

It was either that, or engage in combat with her every _fucking _day. Although Ichigo did find Soi fon's prescence rather enjoyable at times, so too, did he often find her loathsome and irritating. Especially when she dragged him out of bed at the crack of dawn to train in the empty schoolyard.

As such...

"Wanna grab a bite to eat?" Ichigo offered, glancing at his wristwatch. It was only five A.M. in the morning, and, seeing, as today was a Sunday, Ichigo didn't have any of his usual classes. That their 'session' had ended so early was a small miracle in of itself. The damage to the school was miracously neglible this time, too. Ordinarily, the police would be swarming over the yard by now, unable to understand the sudden catastrophe.

All the better.

Yes, Ichigo was quickly starting to find that his life had taken on quite the unusual routine. He would get up; eat breakfast go to school if it wasn't a Sunday, then train, the day usually ending in him lying unconscious or close to it. He'd had a very hard time explaining his injuries to his family.

Now, Soi fon regarded Ichigo dully through half opened eyes. It wasn't that she was tired, she always adopted this look when regarding the occasional invitation to one of the many eateries located in Karakura. She'd never really understood the boy's penchant for such low caliber food.

A meal in the Sereitei was far superior to this sub-par diner that they now approached. Her stomach, however, betrayed her, as it often would in situations such as these. Ichigo quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing to the heated glare the captain of the Onmitskido leveled toward him.

"That would be...acceptable. You will be paying for both of us, yes?"

...Sure." Ichigo scowled, knowing better than to argue. The last time he'd done so, Soi fon had levered him face first into a tree, something he did not care to experience again. Slipping back into his body, Ichigo stretched and winced as he worked out the kinks of being still for five hours.

In comparison to his usual uniform, Ichigo had opted for a simple red tee with an obscure logo on the back. The blue jeans he wore weren't particularly noteworthy either, though Soi fon noticed for the upteenth time that day that they fit well on him and allowed for optimum mobility.

"Then let us set off."

"Eh!" Ichigo suddenly waved his hands in protest, causing the shorter woman to pause in midstep. "Not like that! Y-You need to go back to my house and get _changed _first! If you walk into the restaurant looking like that everyone will think I'm a pervert!"

"Pardon?" Soi fon used the reflection in the glass door to appraise herself, and blinked at the disheveled woman that greeted her. Not only had she lost a sleeve during the brawl, but her skirt, ridicously short to begin with, was yet another casualty. The frayed fringes of the fabric failed to cover her exposed rear, and the black thong she wore there. Her top hadn't faired all the well either, and was missing three of its five buttons.

"Oh."

Thankfully, she'd remembered to wear a bra this time.

So that was why she had felt a breeze...

Ichigo slapped a hand over his face to shelter the expression there.

_"Damnit."_ Soi fon groused sullenly, thankfully folding both arms over her exposed cleavage. "That's the fifth outfit this _week! _Why must all fabric in the world of the living be so damn flimsy? How do they expect uniform's such as these to sell if they lack any sort of proper durability!"

Ichigo felt his eye begin to twitch.

"I don't think durability is the problem...

"What was that?"

"Eh...nothing."

"Blast." Soi fon threw her hands up in exasperation. "I suppose it can't be helped. I won't receive another outfit from _that man_ until the end of next week unless I pay him double. And, seeing as how I have absolutely no intention of doing _that_, I'll have to borrow one of your outfits, then."

"WHAT!" Ichigo nearly fell into the door at that remark. "Y-You can't be serious! I don't have anything that could possibly-

Soi fon was already receding into the distance.

"OI!"

**Hope ya'll enjoyed my little teaser chapter! This story is officially back!**

_**XXXX**_

Preview:

"How's this?" Soi fon emerged from Ichigo's closet wearing a T-shirt that was many sizes too large for her.

_'Holy sh-_

Ichigo had to bite his tongue to hold back _that _remark.


End file.
